The Reformed Genius of the Sichuan Tang Clan - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21
A few days later.
Dang Youxuan returned to the main tavern in Sacheon.
It was the very place Seonwoo Yun had brought him to, where the commotion had erupted.
He was quietly nursing his drink when snatches of conversation drifted to his ears from all around.
“Have you heard? Pae Do Gyeon-gwi and Nan Do Gwi-gaek are dead!”
“Weren’t those two already famous for their cruelty? There’s no shortage of people nursing grudges against them, so it’s only natural they’d meet such an end.”
“Tsk, tsk. I saw it coming. Men who cut off limbs on a whim deserve what they get. Serves them right!”
Dang Youxuan moistened his throat and allowed himself a faint smile.
Indeed, there was no one who disliked seeing enemies swept away by the current.
“Has something pleasant happened, sir?”
Clink.
Seonwoo Yun set down the bottle and sat across from Dang Youxuan.
“Competitors disappearing is always a joy.”
“Competitors? Ah. You mean those men who died days ago?”
“That’s right.”
“I was curious myself, so I’ve been listening around. Word is they died in De-yang.”
“Hmm. De-yang, of all places.”
“Yes. In fact, things have only become more dangerous now.”
“Why is that?”
Seonwoo Yun answered not with words but with a jerk of his chin toward the tavern’s exit.
“Damn it! If Baekwha House goes under, where are we supposed to go!”
“Watch your tongue. It didn’t go under—it vanished. Is the Baekwha House of today the same as it was before?”
“A tavern that won’t even hire vagrant swordsmen as guards? We’d be better off at Gwol-wol-lu…….”
Clap!
Seonwoo Yun clapped his hands sharply, drawing attention around the room.
He clearly thought mentioning Gwol-wol-lu was still too risky.
Not realizing everything was already known.
“You’ve heard, then?”
“About Baekwha House?”
“Yes, exactly. Baekwha House is being completely turned over these days, and there’s plenty of talk about it. Those stiff-necked men suddenly fell under the Yunlong Trading Company. Or so I’ve heard.”
The Yunlong Trading Company was operated by the birth family of Ju Yehwa, Dang Youxuan’s mother and Dang San’s wife.
Though others didn’t know it, anyone who had already seen through Dang Youxuan’s true identity would surely have grasped that much.
So bringing up Baekwha House and the Yunlong Trading Company was tantamount to saying: I know how deeply you’re involved in this, so surrender your information willingly.
“And so those who used to deal with Baekwha House are either dying or threatening to cut ties, the rumor goes.”
“What sort of place is the Yunlong Trading Company?”
“It’s famous as the most morally upright merchant house stationed in Sacheon. They assumed it would never take in those who’d made their fortunes through murder.”
He shrugged as though it were nothing, but his eyes remained sharp, gauging the reaction.
‘See that?’
Dang Youxuan raised an eyebrow.
“So that’s why you told me not to go to De-yang before?”
“Correct. There are rumors that the Yunlong Trading Company hired a swordmaster who’s waiting there for any vagrant fighters who show up.”
“Is that so?”
Dang Youxuan tilted his head back and drained his cup, then fixed Seonwoo Yun with a direct stare.
“There was nothing much there.”
……!
At that flat, ordinary tone, Seonwoo Yun’s face went rigid in an instant.
A seasoned man would have asked at once: did you really go to De-yang, how did you return unscathed, was there truly a swordmaster as the rumor claimed?
But Seonwoo Yun, caught off guard, could do nothing but sit mute as a fool with honey in his mouth.
Moments like these made the difference in experience achingly apparent.
‘He’s too inexperienced. I’ll have to finish the story myself.’
But Dang Youxuan’s attempt to break the silence—before collecting what was owed—came to nothing.
A man in tattered clothes near the tavern entrance suddenly cried out.
“No, no, no! Father, please! Save me!”
“You bastards! Not my daughter! You can take me, but you cannot take my daughter!”
Such scenes were commonplace near the Red Light District.
Dang Youxuan settled the matter with two blinks and gestured with his chin toward the source of the commotion.
“Did that shock you rigid?”
“…… The voice seemed familiar.”
“Then let’s go have a look.”
Dang Youxuan stepped outside ahead of Seonwoo Yun.
“Have you lost your mind? Making demands like that, spouting nonsense? If you can’t repay the debt, you should sell off your family!”
“If your daughter is so precious, you shouldn’t have gambled in the first place!”
“I never said any such thing! You lot made the demands yourselves—what are you trying to pull, deceiving people like this?”
Two men, Jo Chil and Jang Bok, seized the young girl’s arms roughly.
Dang Youxuan’s gaze swept quickly over the scene, settling on their clothing.
A crescent moon and waning moon embroidered on their chests, split in two.
The symbol of Gwol-wol-lu.
‘Now I understand.’
The man on the left had been thoroughly toyed with by Gwol-wol-lu.
He appeared to be someone who gambled casually for amusement, but novices like him were always the easiest prey for swindlers.
Such people invariably hoped a beginner’s luck would hold—never realizing it was all an elaborate fraud.
Dang Youxuan clicked his tongue inwardly.
Seonwoo Yun, arriving late, caught sight of the man and murmured something.
“Uncle Jeong?”
The man, Jeong Chunsam, heard the small voice even amid the noisy crowd and whipped his head around.
“Yun? Is that really you, Yun?”
“Uncle? What are you doing here…?”
“I had some free time and wanted to try a few hands at the gambling house, but I lost everything. I promised to repay it within a week, but the debt doubled in that time. How am I, a mere farmer who can barely feed myself by tilling fields, supposed to pay it back? And then they demanded I turn over So-hee. Sniff…”
“That can’t be…”
His eyes wavered far more than they had when Dang Youxuan mentioned going to De-yang earlier.
It was difficult—being so close to someone he could recognize at a glance, watching them suffer at Gwol-wol-lu’s hands, and unable to openly step in.
‘I need to act now.’
Dang Youxuan stepped forward and positioned Jeong Chunsam behind him.
“What’s all this commotion doing in front of the shop?”
“Are you the proprietor here? If not, mind your business and get out.”
“P-please, don’t go!”
Jeong Chunsam grabbed the edge of Dang Youxuan’s robe.
With everyone else turning away, this man had stepped forward alone—so he must be someone with power rivaling Gwol-wol-lu.
“Please, help me. I truly did not sell my daughter. These men are just spouting nonsense on their own!”
Dang Youxuan did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned slightly and looked at Seonwoo Yun.
“Is he trustworthy?”
“Yes. He enjoys his fortune, but he’s not the type to betray anyone.”
“Then what are you hesitating for?”
Dang Youxuan cracked his neck side to side as he spoke.
“If you want to help, then help. I’ll be with you.”
“Then…”
His round eyes flickered back and forth.
But the hesitation did not last long.
Seonwoo Yun bowed his head deeply, yet his resolve came through clearly.
“Please, help us.”
“So be it.”
Dang Youxuan replied readily and gestured with his chin.
He had always favored those who pursued good with the resolve to die for it.
“Can you handle one of them?”
“…No. I fear it will be difficult.”
“I see. What’s your weapon of choice?”
“My fists.”
“Good. While I deal with one, just hold the other at bay.”
“You wretches! What are you babbling about right in front of us!?”
Shing!
Jo Chil and Jang Bok drew their blades and aimed them at Dang Youxuan.
But Dang Youxuan merely curled up his cheeks in a smile, making no move to reach toward the sword at his waist.
Dang Youxuan’s martial prowess was at the Peak Realm.
These two, by contrast, were at best First-Class Level, barely touching the Peak Realm’s threshold.
Unless heaven itself intervened, their defeat was nearly certain.
“Children shouldn’t interrupt when adults are speaking.”
Crack!
A fist wrapped in Inner Energy drove straight into a jaw.
In a single blow, Jo Chil’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed.
“Stronger bones than they look. I thought there was nothing but fat on him.”
Dang Youxuan brushed the dust from his hands, then hooked the back of the other Jang Bok’s neck.
“Ugh.”
Jang Bok lost his footing and released Jeong So-hee’s arm.
Dang Youxuan seized the opening, pulling the girl behind him and sheltering her with his body.
In that same moment, Seonwoo Yun spotted Jang Bok falling backward and drove his fist into the man’s heart.
Crack!
Thump!
A dull percussion accompanied small sparks dancing from his knuckles.
‘That’s…!’
A man isn’t steel—you don’t throw a few punches and conjure sparks from your fist.
Which meant what Seonwoo Yun had deployed was likely not a Fist Technique but the Fire Attack Technique.
‘So that’s why the Gwol-wol-lu proprietor is obsessed with the color red—it stems from the Fire Attack Technique?’
If he could unfold it to this degree from a mere stolen glimpse over his shoulder, what would he accomplish once he’d mastered it properly?
A chill ran down his spine.
Dang Youxuan twisted his mouth into a grimace and drove Jang Bok into the ground.
“Aaaagh! Mercy, have mercy, please!”
“Tch. Quiet.”
Dang Youxuan drew a poison needle from his sleeve and pierced Jang Bok’s neck.
The man, who had been gasping and writhing in the agony of fire consuming his abdomen, fell silent in an instant.
‘Glad I kept these—almost got an earful there.’
The Seven Kill Needle.
A needle that spreads poison through the body in a heartbeat, as if one had suddenly encountered the Seven Kills—Great Inauspiciousness itself—and brings death.
Dang Youxuan retrieved it discreetly and returned it to its proper place before anyone could see.
“What was that?”
Asking when you already know—how amusing.
He was already well aware of who and where Dang Youxuan came from, and yet he was asking. It struck him as utterly absurd.
Dang Youxuan gave an unblushing shrug.
“Borrowed it from somewhere.”
Seonwoo Yun’s face contorted at that.
Dang Youxuan chuckled quietly at the predictable reaction.
Once the commotion had settled, the gathered people dispersed, each heading their own way.
Then Jeong Chunsam and Jeong So-hee approached Dang Youxuan and bowed deeply.
“My goodness. Sir. Thank you so much! I cannot thank you enough!”
“Thank you for saving us.”
“It was nothing worth such gratitude.”
Dang Youxuan gently removed Jeong Chunsam’s hands.
This business was far from finished, and he had no intention of letting it end here.
“I hear your daughter was taken as collateral?”
“Shamefully, yes. But I swear to you—I never wanted to sell my daughter. How could a father do such a thing?……”
“I understand your heart well enough. So tell me: how much do you owe?”
“Five hundred taels.”
“Convenient.”
Dang Youxuan drew a heavy purse from his robes and pressed it into Jeong Chunsam’s hands.
“Exactly five hundred taels. Go settle the debt straight away—don’t set foot in a gambling den.”
“Sobbing… Th-thank you! I don’t know how I could ever repay such kindness……”
“Don’t repay it. If you must, then repay it by keeping your wits about you and living right from this day forward.”
“Yes, of course. I swear I’ll never go near a gambling house again!”
“That’ll do.”
Dang Youxuan made light of the matter and shook out his sleeves.
“My coin is spent for today. I’ll take my leave. We’ll meet again sometime.”
“Yes. Until we meet again.”
Leaving Seonwoo Yun in a daze, Dang Youxuan waved his hand in farewell and draped the corpses over his shoulders.
The moment he turned completely around, his face—hidden behind the two bodies—turned cold as winter stone.
Word of what happened today would surely reach the Gwol-wol-lu proprietor’s ears.
The man who was trying to swallow everything whole without a sound would soon learn that plans had shifted, that he now faced resistance at every turn—and his posture would change accordingly.
So he had to move quickly.
Sacheon Dang Clan—Reform and Ascendance—Genius
Author|
Lee Il-yeong
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
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Editorial Department
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No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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